


We could be Heroes - me and you

by sassaricando



Category: Euphoria (TV 2019), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Crime Fighting, F/F, Idiots in Love, Multiverse, Saving the World
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2019-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:07:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21598159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassaricando/pseuds/sassaricando
Summary: In her defense, Lexi would like to say that she never wanted to become a bloody hero. She already had too much on her plate defending the law with Matthew as a starving attorney by day and masking her face to fight crime beside Daredevil at night. There was also her unfortunate crush on detective Bennett to keep her busy. So why in hell was Peter suddenly talking about a Madame Web as Jessica was getting nuts over Kilgrave (wasn’t he dead?) while a wizard called Strange (the hell was that?) was talking about collapsing dimensions?orHow Lexi Howard and Rue Bennett managed to save the whole multiverse with a few bumps along the way.that fic where Euphoria meets the MCU with a (very lesbian) twist no one asked for.
Relationships: Rue Bennett/Lexi Howard
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	We could be Heroes - me and you

Well, Cassie knew that Lexi has been working as a lawyer apprentice under Matthew Murdock’s all righteously moral but also very substandard looking law office for quite some time. In fact, her younger sister couldn’t be considered an intern anymore seeing that she wasn’t payed. That and because both attorneys decided to change their law firm’s name to ‘ _Howard and Murdock – Attorneys at Law’_ in a very appalling and pitiful art that left Cassie believing that her 11-year-old son could do better.

But well, the two of them lacked the money, Matthew thankfully lacked the sight to see such horrendous art and Lexi lacked the common sense to actually make a respectful enough advertisement sign.

Either way, both of them shared the same dreamy vision of changing the world so much that there was no way they could’ve survived of their payments only – much because such thing was nonexistent –, ‘cause the two of them were often paid with either food or cheap souvenirs to adorn their second-rate place that it simply looked like a sad antiquarian after a tornado. And most times Cassie visited the duo, they were often found sitting cross-legged on the floor in a mess of papers and silly looking decors.

It went on like that until they got a second-hand loveseat that the old man who paid them with it said that it was a mystique souvenir that would grant whoever sat there their most desirable wish to come true. Of course, the blonde rolled her eyes because even though she didn’t work there, Cassie lived with Lex, so she was somehow used to Lexi chattering about all the strange crap they received as payment. The girl unfortunately would bring a few eccentric stuffs to their home because ‘the office has literally no place for that anymore, Cass. What should I do?’ that couldn’t be a lie because her younger sister was seriously incapable of that; she telegraphed her lies so clearly that even Cass’ kid was able to see through it and would berate her for trying to uphold the truth. The blonde was always rolling her eyes at her, ‘cause her younger sister was truly one of a kind.

And she also had been there to witness firsthand that yes, they had no space for a pin to be dropped. How could her sister work in such an unkempt environment was beyond the blonde’s intelligence – and Cassie was considered to be the owner of one of the sharpest minds in the scientific field along with her co-worker –, but it still terrified her to no end. The pair didn’t even own a bloody table or, you know, a chair. Every eerie thing they were given would lay on the floor, one on top of the other, or on top of boxes, because that was exactly what the two attorneys used as tables over there.

Come to think about it, she couldn’t be that surprised when she found out that her sister’s blind work partner was the Daredevil, seeing that the man seriously needed superpowers if he survived moving around their office without breaking his neck after stumbling on some of the creepy looking things laid all over the place.

Either way, the duo’s office only had that truly outrageous looking loveseat that looked like it was stolen from a cheap whorehouse, but still. One of them was blind and the other was much too senseless for her own good, so whenever Cassie went downtown to visit, she would often find them having yesterday’s reheated coffee and debating their lawsuits as they sat there. Every goddamn time she entered their mediocre looking office and was assaulted by said view, she would have half a mind to plan setting that bloody thing on fire and calling it a criminal arson.

She would never, of course. Instead she just shared her hatred over that gruesome piece of furniture with her lab partner and somewhat friend with benefits? Well, her relationship status with Shuri was yet to me named, but, well, it didn’t matter much. Anyway, seeing that the princess of Wakanda was actually the only other person outside of her son, sister and, well, Rue – and sometimes Murdock himself – that Cassie really exchanged more words than what would be considered a polite enough conversation, the poor dark-skinned girl was always the one hearing her rants about how undignified was to see her bright but naive sister in such miserable work conditions. And, after a quick visit over their hellhole of a law firm, her partner was just as appalled as she was.

_“This looks like a haunted circus.”_

Shuri said and just like that, the princess donated them some new and very expensive furniture to both attorneys’ embarrassment. Yes, Cassie knew that the two of them were just too proud to accept anything they deemed themselves undeserving of. But trust Shuri, ever the diplomat, to call it a payment for every single work they did in the matters of helping to rebuild the city and for taking care of its citizens _“In every possible way”_ she said with a flamboyant wink that Cassie was sure that even the blind man – or ‘blind ninja’, as the heir of Wakanda would often call him – was able to see. ‘Cause she couldn’t give them a medal of honor, so decorating their law office was the only thing she had in mind. Thus, it would help both to actually do their jobs because reading at a table was a little more dignified than doing that on the floor.

So, they shyly smiled and accepted it after a while. But they still didn’t get rid of that forsaken loveseat because _”Come on, Cass! It really has style!”_ Lexi said with a big happy grin and, just like that, the blonde sighed and dropped the subject, seeing the only _style_ that horrendous thing had was to make the place look like a phantasmagorical Moulin Rouge, but well, it wasn’t her work place anyway.

It was just too tiring to see her sister always getting paid in frivolous things after she put so much effort into doing a good job, you know? However, somehow, Lexi would often take it all in stride and simply shrug her shoulders with some sort of uplifting comment about everything.

Such as:

_“Isn’t this fish just amazing, Cass? I mean, it looks like every other fish, but the guy we helped today, Mr. Fork, and do not mistake this, please! Matthew almost shoved out of the window after I chuckled at our client’s last name. Then again I suppose he wouldn’t be able to pay for a new window replacement if he did that.” Cassie simply blinked because that was exactly how most conversations with Lex went on: her sister would babble her mouth to no end and she would just listen to all of it and nod here and there. “Anyway, this client gave us as payment and he said that it’s a very expensive fish so we could, you know, have it, right?” The blonde nodded still sipping her tea. “I brought him here because Matthew is blind, as you already know, and I might forget to feed it eventually. And we wouldn’t have the money to buy food for it anyway and I know that Henry love animals so maybe we could have it?” Lex was biting her lower lip as Cassie sighed. “Come on, look at it! Isn’t it beautiful?” No, it wasn’t. “I mean, I still don’t know what’s so especial about it to make it so valuable, but maybe it has some sort of special ability, right? Kind of like me.” Just like that, Lexi had a big smile and the blonde rolled her eyes._

_“It just swims and eats, Lex. What could it possibly do to differ from every other fish?” Her sister knew that she had won the argument because Cassie was a pushover like that, so she started to unravel a big strange fantasy about the fish possible exceptional powers._

_“Well, it can be the King Fish of Atlantis, you know? The one who rules all seas under its- well, gills or something like that.” Cassie didn’t have the heart to inform her sister that, for being such a powerful king of the seas, the forsaken fish was very unfortunate to be given to a blind man and his forgetful associate as payment for anything._

_Then Henry came, full of smiles, because Lexi really had a way of lifting everyone’s moods and her son decided to call their fish ‘King Nemo’._

King Nemo lived with them for a whole week before Bovary, their unfriendly cat, ate him to both Cass’ kid and sister horror as Lexi endlessly berated the aloof cat and Henry made a memorial for Nemo. Well, may the fish rest in peace.

Still, besides those numerous downsides of having Lexi working with the blind attorney mostly pro-bono, the only thing that grated Cassie’s nerves to no end was knowing that her sweet and gullible younger sister was also working as bloody vigilante alongside Murdock. So much for fucking mentoring Lex, huh?

Because as her big sister, Cassie Howard, took her sixteen-year-old sis to the US as soon as she had the means to do so, ‘cause she gathered that Lexi was being experimented like a lab rat because their ‘dad’ went mad and decided to work for Hydra and soon enough there were many menacing looking men visiting the house.

Said experiments started when Lexi was only nine and often revolved around genetically modified tests and experiments, some injections of super serums and psychic run-outs as Gus – or whatever the hell his true name was – planned to turn his younger daughter into a weapon of mass destruction to prove his worth as a geneticist capable of guiding the human specimen to another level of evolution. And, of course, to appease Hydra as well.

That prompted the blonde to rescue her way too oblivious younger sister all the way to America as Cassie accepted the offer to study at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Academy and later work for Pepper Potts-Stark as her biochemical scientist in a way to protect Lexi from terrorist groups that were after their father’s most exceptional creation: an all made superhuman who could be easily created from chemicals, minerals and physical experiments only.

Not that Tony Stark’s widow knew that this was the blonde reason for accepting a job there – the payment was also a great plus – because as she saw Lexi growing stronger day by day, the blonde scientist would forever take the time to remember her too innocent and passionate little sister about being hidden, only to be ignored because one Matthew Murdock decided to sequester Lexi into his delusional views about defeating crime and defending the law as the blind man, along with his cohort of misfits, took her sister under his crime-fighting wing and appealed to the goodness of Lexi’s heart.

Of course, soon enough her sister was a part of the pariah’s group of fighters patrolling the city down the late nights only to get beaten and stabbed back and forth as a sick hobby. At the very least, Lexi learned to fight somewhere down the road because it was utterly tiring to keep stitching her over again as the girl muttered in pain from their rebellious and let’s not forget felonious activities.

Because trust Alexis Howard to join such bizarre group of insane people led by a blind man to fight for justice as a gothic masked vigilante, all dressed in black because ‘it gives me the advantage, Cass’, well, as if. And said uncanny team was called ‘The Defenders’ ‘cause of course the blind attorney would pick such a name.

Cassie was all too used to having her few hours of sleep rudely interrupted by those lunatics that it was all kinds of sad by now. Sometimes the bulletproof ex-con, also known as Luke Cage, would invite himself over with a fake smile to share his criminal findings with her younger sister as both stared silently at one another before nodding and going on their merry way to fight crime. Cassie actually liked the big black guy just enough, seeing that he would use his impenetrable body as a shield for Lexi whenever they were together.

Then there was Jessica Jones and that was a whole new level of problem the mere presence of the woman arose. Because between asking for Lex’s help as an attorney with her criminal records – another pro-bono work for Lexi, of course –, inviting her young sister to drink their sorrows away that would often have Cassie being awake in the middle of the night to pick them up. Because there was a night that Lexi managed to fall from a 20-story high building after she drank her life away with cheap liquor over the one and only Rue Bennett and missed a leap, therefore falling shamelessly and wrecking a car in the process. Of course, Lexi was, well, Lexi and she wanted to buy a new car for whoever owned the one she rudely fell upon, but seeing that she didn’t have a bloody penny, all she did was agreeing to never fucking drink and try leaping through the skies at night ever again.

Jessica was an unapologetic person through and through, so there was no way to talk any sense into her thick head.

There was also Daniel Rand, CEO of the whole Rand Enterprises, who too had a revolting hobby of getting beaten and dragged around in chains while muttering that he was ‘Danny Rand, the Immortal Iron Fist, Protector of K'un-Lun, Sworn Enemy of the Hand’ that got really tiring after a while. The boy was the strangest one yet – and there was Jessica Jones in the group – so Cassie just kept their encounters kind of polite enough.

Of course, there was also their leader, the Daredevil himself, who she was just too used to seeing by now. Sometimes he would appear in the sisters’ penthouse with a deep frown as he held a very commonly knifed Lex in his arms and turned his head around in shame – it served Murdock quite damn good! Other times he would be the one being dragged by Lexi after a particular heavy fight. And there was that one time when even Shuri got in the middle.

_The two scientists were sleeping in Cass’ bed. Naked. Because they were up to doing things before. Naked things, like sex. When a loud thud followed by some other low noises was heard. Oh, Lexi just fell from the stairs of their penthouse. Again. Cassie would kill both her sister and Jessica Jones._

_Of course, Shuri didn’t know that and there was the girl jumping into action as she activated her Kimoyo Beads with a whispered “Get up, Cass! The penthouse is under attack.” that a part of Cassie got endlessly amused by how the geek genius managed to change to a fight stance so fast. Another part of her growled in frustration because she was livid at both her sister and her drunkard friend for interrupting her night._

_“It’s okay, Shuri, its probably just Lexi rolling her drunk ass down the st-“_

_But her sentence was interrupted by another series of loud noises that meant that it was not Jessica who was there with Lex, the sounds were too loud to be her and someone else rolled down the stairway after that. So, after the girls looked at one another with wide eyes, Cassie jumped out of bed and got dressed as she heard muttered whimpers of pain coming from behind her bedroom door._

_She then asked Sonny, their A.I. who controlled the whole penthouse, about what was happening before she started the lockdown procedure and safety protocols._

_“It’s Lexi and the Daredevil.” If it was possible for an A.I. to sound ashamed, Cassie was sure that Sonny would. And to have their artificial intelligence more abashed in its voice than the crime-fighting duo truly said something her sister’s unpaid work. She sighed and was about to go back to bed when Sonny continued. “They lost too much blood and are exactly thirty-two minutes and 20 seconds away from passing out.” Oh, for fuck’s sake!_

_They ran towards the pair and true enough, Cassie had never seen the two of them so wrecked. It was the first time after she got her sister back – after Thanos happened – that Cassie got truly terrified over losing Lex again. So, she had Sonny locking Henry’s bedroom door and soundproofing it away from the rest of the house._

_Shuri took her hand in hers and that was when Cassie saw that she was shaking like a leaf. She was so horrified that she couldn’t even bring herself to ask the AI about the duo’s injures. There was so much blood that Lexi’s all back clothes were dripping and staining the floor in angry red. And Matthew was gritting teeth as he tried to breath because he was choking on his own blood as he spat it and coughed and Jesus! They were dying right before her eyes._

_But then Shuri, thank God for the princess – ‘cause if Cassie didn’t know if she truly harbored romantic feelings for her, that was the night that messed everything for the blonde – had Sonny running a scan down their wounds and oh God!_

_Daredevil had fours bullet wounds in his torso, two of those were still inside his body and seeing that he was shot by a high caliber shotgun, it also meant that they had to take it out carefully because if those bullets exploded, his organs would be destroyed beyond salvation. His other two wounds were thankfully clean, those were probably made by a semiautomatic pistol, the bullets got in and out, though one of the shots pierced his right lung and the man would need to be put in life support to give the scientists some time to perform his surgery with artificial vibranium tissues because that lung was gone and drowned in blood._

_Matthew Murdock was dying in Cassie’s living room and there was almost nothing she could do for him._

_Then there was Lexi and Sonny just said that her sister had two clean bullet shots, and multiple cuts because she was roughly stabbed. According to the AI, Lexi Howard was knifed and pierced in a total of 23 times. What the fuck? The most preoccupying was the knife that she still had deep inside her chest and, by the looks of it, Cassie was sure that at least an artery was pierced from the angle. Fucking hell._

_Shuri took over the situation and powered her science tech to have the whole visual of both vigilantes. It wasn’t good._

_You see, Cassie was a biochemical scientist with a side degree in medicine and the two of them were good as dead. Matthew, somehow, was worse even when Lexi had been the one sporting multiple cuts. And knowing that Shuri wasn’t in Wakanda to perform surgeries without holding a scalpel, they would have to do it the old way._

_So, Cassie started to carefully take off the shotgun bullets as to not have them exploding inside the man and Shuri worked on Lexi who kept saying to ‘focus on him, I’m okay’ that would have Cassie rolling her eyes any other day, but she was bloody mad at the fucking suicidal duo._

_“Oh, fuck you, Lexi! You have a knife deep inside your fucking chest and 23 stabbing wounds, so shut the fuck up!” She shouted without taking her eyes away from the man because his left lung was beginning to fail and Jesus fuck!_

_“Fucking hell, Lexi! Are you insane?!” Shuri shouted and that was when the blonde turned to see that her fucking moronic sister simply took the knife off her chest and fell down. Fucking stupid girl!! Then, after taking a deep breath, she crawled all the way to the dying man and held the knife to his lips as blood dripped into the man’s mouth. “What the actual fuck is happening here?” Shuri yelled – thank God Henry wouldn’t be hearing any of that! – and Cassie too was lost as fuck. “Is this some sort of twilight shit? I swear to God, I hate vampires!” As the princess kept shouting, Lexi then stared right into Cassie’s soul and told her to:_

_“Keep working on him, I’m just buying some time.” That had the blonde almost slapping her face because she was as good as dead anyway, how in fuck’s name was she buying him some time? Was that some kind of sick joke? Some crude witchcraft of sorts? What the hell was happening? “I’m gonna be okay.” Her sister smiled a tired one and just fell back on the floor in a sitting position._

_But she asked for another status update anyway, and true to her word, Lexi’s health was increasing, though slowly, but surely increasing – seeing that anyone who pulled what she just did when she decided to take a knife off her chest without surgery would probably be dead by now. As she sat there in only her underwear, Cassie could see that some of hers most superficial wounds were already closed and the gorier looking ones were slowly going the same path._

_Oh, so Lexi had a healing factor. Thank heavens! It was all the reassurance the blonde needed to go back to working on the blind idiot. Shuri, for her part, was torn between being amused and truly shocked by it all. Even more when Lexi told them that she was going to pass out soon enough but it was going to be okay, they should just make a blood transfusion to Matthew to give him more time. Of course, Cassie wasn’t sold, but Shuri was very against tarnishing her perfect saving record and letting that stupid man die that soon enough she found the needed material and was on the way to pierce Lexi’s skin with a needle when her sister tiredly giggled with a “Nope, that won’t work.” as she all but put the tube right into her deep chest wound that looked truly garish and made both scientists gag a little as the moron started that fucking lunacy of pumping her blood right into Daredevil’s veins._

_Soon enough she was close to passing out and Cassie decided that it was enough, seeing that her wounds weren’t healing anymore. So just like that, both girls got back to working on the man as Shuri downloaded every blueprint they had on vibranium artificial organs and broke every protocol they made to not build anything vibranium related outside of their labs._

_Fucking Matthew Murdock!_

_Surely enough, what seemed to be down to only two more torturous hours of living, give or take, Lexi’s blood pumped Matt to endure an almost twelve hours procedure without organs collapsing or heart failure, so her sister’s healing factor could heal someone else as well. But of course, Lexi passed out and she needed blood to keep healing, so that fact led to one of the most mortifying things that Cassie could do. She woke Spider-Man in the middle of the night to ask for blood because:_

_“Do you have blood around here, Cass?” Shuri asked as the blonde was working on closing the Daredevil’s bullet wounds. The hell was that?_

_“Of course not, Shuri! Who do you think I am? Fucking Dracula!?” So, his torso's wounds were closed, now they would have to turn him around and open him up to start working on his lungs._

_“Well, Lex there needs blood to keep on healing and I’m not going to use myself as a blood bag, blondie.” Sure enough, she took a look at her sister who was pass out on the floor. Bloody hell! So that was when the princess came up with the idea of having Peter Parker breaking into their lab to steal blood for the two idiots._

_She argued against it for a minute, give or take, before Lexi started having seizures on the floor so whatever. Parker could be useful for something, right?_

_And that was how Lexi’s super powers were also shared with the teenage superhero._

_Of course, they saved both vigilantes as Shuri ran test after test on them and Peter paced on the ceiling saying shit that nobody gave a damn for, but the boy was probably talking to himself anyway. Lex and Matthew then had to take a few days off to recover and trust the spider hero to use his newfound secret to ask the two of them to ‘please, I need you to help me cleaning my name after that whole Mysterio thing, I cannot be Spider-Man anymore or even Peter Parker. Pretty please!’ And well, of course the two morons who had no qualms about themselves took the boy’s case._

_And they won it after six odd months, so they got somewhat famous after that, not that their bank accounts followed the status. Also, Peter started to visit a little more often. The boy was okay enough seeing that he wasn’t yet legal to drink so, unlike Jessica, he wouldn’t sequester Lexi to get wasted. He also didn’t have more criminal issues after that unlike both Luke and, well, Jessica again, so at least he wouldn’t ask her sister for more pro-bono work. He wasn’t one to introduce himself in long sentences as a modern Daenerys Targaryen like the Rand boy, so his presence wasn’t too rough her peace of mind. The kid too wasn’t as stubborn and dimwitted as Matthew, as he loved the high-tech upgrades and whatever could help him fighting._

_Because after that insanity Shuri saw, the dark-skinned girl wouldn’t waste a visit without asking the duo if they wanted a vibranium suit to help them in their felonious activities and the two of them would always turn the offer down. Until one day that Lexi decided to break into their lab looking like she had been ran over by a fucking bus and Cassie said that they were going to use vibranium fucking suits, one way or another._

_And after some months, they relented. After one specific defense in court that would only happen way later when the two attorneys were up against the whole New York State to fight for the housing rights of people who lost everything after Thanos second-round. Lexi would relent because Rue was there in the row looking at her with deep worried eyes as she and Matthew made shushed noises after getting their asses beaten the night before._

_At the very least Cassie had Rue to thank for that._

_Talking about the girl, to be true, Peter and Lexi became friends over the duo’s inability to deal with the girls they liked, so, somehow it was at least amusing to hear their conversations._

All in all, besides the Parker kid, the blonde had more of a friendly relationship with the blind and the drunk seeing that both were always at fault whenever her little sister was involved in shenanigans that left her battered, cut open or wasted.

Thankfully Lexi did have a healing factor or the girl would have been already dead by now, either out of her characteristic clumsiness or the stupid people she hang with at night.

Even Henry sometimes woke up in a jump after hearing his auntie muttering obscenities whenever she crawled through a window wrecked enough. Cass’ son would always try to help and, of course, snoop around, asking about whoever was to blame for Lex’s recklessness that time, an answer that her sister would never give ‘cause she would forever say that ‘you should’ve seen the other guy’. But it worked with the teenager because Lexi Howard was his favorite auntie and superhero, no matter how shitty she was looking after getting beaten to a pulp.

Some things only happened to her sister, it seemed. And all of that insanity was still very beyond Cassie’s brain capacity and the girl had a double PhD in bio and chemicals and she was also a MD, thank you very much.

The only okay part of it all was seeing that Lexi grew up to be a little surer about her life decisions and human interactions as she could also now take care of herself physically as well, as both Daredevil and the Immortal Iron Fist – oh boy! – somewhat mentored her in a vast array of martial arts and hand-to-hand combat. It was the least both of them could do for her, anyway, seeing that the nursing part of such lovely encounters was all up to the girl’s older sister still.

Yes, Cassie had her fair share of stitching all those idiots, minus Luke, every once in a while.

But that was just how things were, she unfortunately couldn’t hide her sister forever because even when she used a memory-redefine equipment to keep Lex from facing the truth about their Nazi terrorist familiar roots, her sister was still the most stubborn person to ever grace the earth and after hearing one of the girl’s millionth speeches highlighting her unswaying beliefs in the laws that paved humanity’s roll in the world and how it was just her call to protect people given her superpowers, it was simple to say that the blonde gave up on spending her saliva over such acerbic arguing because the possibility of changing Lexi’s views about keeping herself in the shadows instead of engaging in mindless super heroic acts was close to zero.

“Hey, Cassie! Sup?” Her thinking process was interrupted by someone walking into her lab. Someone she knew exactly who was and sported her trademarked lopsided smirk on her face.

“Hello, Bennett.” She gave the tall brunette a long and tired sigh and received a confused looking expression in return. “I’m sorry, I’m just losing my mind here.” The girl gave her a small smile after that, they were all screwed trying to analyze sample after damn sample of every substance that was poured upon the atmosphere over the last night. “This is just…”

“Insane, right?” The lanky girl provided already sitting on a chair nearby and Cassie lowered her head in her hands. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Rue Bennett. The woman beside her was okay enough and they were friends after both lost their beloved ones after the _Blip._ Rue was very bright and smart, also a little edgy with a cutthroat sense of humor and was often seen swaggering around the Stark tower in a white coat and a messy bun at the top of her head with her detective’s badge shining bright around her waist. “I was talking to Shuri and the princess was a step away from getting bald with her pushing and pulling of her own hair over this very same study.” The taller brunette said taking her glasses off. She too looked tired from the double work she was up doing, seeing that the girl was often seen around Cassie’s working place.

This was the problem Cassie had with the smirking woman beside her: as much as she liked her, detective and former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Rue Bennett represented the government force in a place all too crowded with what could be considered as mad scientists working to prevent alien attacks along with superheroes. The irony of it all was not lost on the blonde.

“I only wonder why would that be, huh?” She said because she got to know Shuri so much after the years that by now Cassie could assume every single change in her behavior without even seeing it. And her tall and fit companion rolled her eyes good-naturally, as if she was used to it all. Maybe she was. Because back in the day they were kind of a trio, but well, Thanos happened.

“Anyway, good thing was that I actually managed to convince her to go out with us for a drink or two.” Rue conceived after dropping the topic because they both knew Shuri, wherever the dark-skinned princess went, she brought her lab on the palm of her hands. And for this fact Cassie came to appreciate her even more, seeing that it was what saved her sister and Murdock’s lives that forsaken night. Also, Wakanda’s tech was really a blessing and made everything easier.

“I’ll have to rain check this time, Rue. Lexi is coming to pick me up tonight.” Cassie said turning in time to see a more sincere and dreamy smile taking the other girl’s features. “Well, if she reminds it anyway, of course.” She rolled her eyes when she recalled that time Lexi forgot to pick Henry at school and Cassie’s son got so bloody mad over it that then her ten-year-old kid managed to ignore both women for a whole week after that. Her child really knew how to hold grudges.

Anyway, she looked at her watch and heard a giggle from the woman sitting beside her and took a deep breath. Of course Lexi was late. And of course Rue knew it.

So, the other problem she had with Rue Bennett was her sister’s inability to act like a normal human being whenever she was around the detective. And said cool and collected Rue Bennett usually acted as if her big lesbian crush on Lexi was a mysterious bloody secret, well, as if. Maybe if Rue Bennett wasn’t a freaking empath it could still be-

No, it actually couldn’t be a secret even if the girl didn’t downright project her feelings towards Lexi that other day, the day her sister came back. ‘Cause Cassie actually knew Rue and the only person who didn’t know that Rue was in love with Lexi was Lexi herself. So, to sum it all, it was also a very tiring thing to see both girls dancing around each other and even more unsatisfying to partake in one of their awkward flirting sessions.

“Oh, maybe we can also have Howar-“ But Rue Bennett’s attempt at nonchalantly inviting her younger sister was cut short as said girl came running inside her lab as if Thanos was back after her to turn everyone to dust again.

Well, unfortunate comparison, but excuse her. Cassie Howard was beyond tired and mad about every part of that fight up to now, seeing that she was the one doing the research and studies about the ashes they gathered from the final battle as she did comparisons with whatever was poured over New York city last night. It was best to be safe than sorry and Cassie Howard didn’t want another Chernobyl episode to happen, even more because she was being very generously paid to prevent it.

“Cass, come on, let’s go!” Lexi said in a rush after she managed to hit two chairs and almost smashed a table containing the blonde’s every single report already cleared and written down to specific details about the formulas, which made both Cassie and Rue hold their breaths in fear. “Ops!” Said her sister with a cheeky smile holding the table stable to stop the tubes from shaking to the ground. “Sorry, it’s all good now. Just a tiny scare.” The small superhero continued as she gave little praises to every single object on top of the table for staying still.

Cassie rolled her eyes, wasn’t Lexi supposed to be a little more elegant with all her powers and everything? Because sometimes the blonde believed her sister to be an over-caffeinated human wrecking ball.

Or perhaps that was their dad’s way of building a weapon of mass destruction all along seeing that if Lex had knocked every contained study on top of the table down, Pepper would make it her personal mission to slay them all.

“Hello, British!” The tall girl, who Cassie just forgot that was still there witnessing it all, said to her clumsy sister with that deep flirty voice she only used with Lexi and had a small blush across her cheeks just in time for the blonde to hear a loud snap. Oh, how fantastic! Her sister just cracked the table in surprise. “Good to see you here.” Rue continued with an easy smile as Cassie fumed watching Lexi make sorry eyes to what the blonde assumed to be spider cracks all over the table supporting all analyzes she just spent the last twelve hours delving into.

“Rue, hi!” Lexi said with wide eyes and shook her head. “I mean, Detective Bennett.” The small brunette then decided to comb her fingers through her hair as she narrowed her eyes to the table, as if she was trying to convince it to stay put. “Or, I mean, Detective Rue Bennett, hello.” The addressed Detective Rue Bennett looked endless amused as she bit her lower lip with a pink face looking at the embarrassed superhero.

Here we go again.

Cassie rolled her eyes at the two of them. She decided to sit back, at the pace the two were going, there was no going home anytime soon.

“Hello, attorney at law Alexis Howard.” Rue said with a blushing face and the other blushing girl had a small smile on her face. Cassie took her notepad to write down the numbers of another sample test she just read on the computer monitor; it was better to make herself useful as the lovebirds decided to make moon eyes at one another. “You came just when I was trying to convince Cassie to have a drink with us, do you wanna come?”

“I, I appreciate the invitation, Rue-I mean, detective Bennett, but…” She heard from her sister but said nothing as she kept checking her numbers to see if they were correct. Well, of course they were. As Lexi was the muscles and brutal force, she was the brains. In fact, PhD Cassandra Howard’s brain capacity was way higher than the average, it still remained unknown as to how much exactly. And an around-Rue-Bennett Lexi though seemed to lose her every single neuron.

Actually, one would think that after the duo had a one-night stand back in the day, even when Cassie was almost sure that their feelings ran way damn deeper than just that, they would be less weird around one another, but that was her younger sister, after all. And also Thanos happened.

And also… Rue was engaged, not that the girl herself seemed to remember that whenever Lexi was around, of course.

Still, the blonde couldn’t help but to quietly sigh at the memory of a very disheveled Lexi barging into her room full super strength as she just took the door down off its hinges and almost startled Bovary and Shakespeare into losing one of their seven lives. Poor cats probably did though.

That was a hell of a memory. Probably the worst she had.

_Of course, Cassie was already used to her younger sister’s less than glamorous entering and her all too over anxious persona so she just sighed and decided it was better to open another tab and search for door prices down the internet just in case._

_“Cass, I did something horrible!” A 23-year-old Lex said looking completely delirious, as if the girl had fought death and all its friends overnight. But as soon as she saw both cats meowing in anger, she somehow decided to apologize to them. “Hey, kids! I’m sorry for that, I didn’t know you were here. You can go back to sleep now.” Cassie gave a snort of distaste as she saw the girl kneeling on the ground and petting both in shame without a throwing a simple ‘sorry’ her way. Lucky her, Henry was already asleep or good God help her, but she would’ve strangled her beloved sister with her bare hands. “Hey, Cass. I’m sorry for the door and stuff.” Lexi said really apologetic, meaning that her nasty glare did indeed work._

_Well, she sighed and saved the artificial vibranium bones project she was upgrading yet again for hers and Shuri’s lab to help mortally wounded soldiers or field agents to have a faster and smoother recovery after any mission went wrong. In theory, her project was so damn good that with the whole vibranium improvement it proved to be possible for injured people even to have tattoos and whole neural stimulation sensory with it._

_Thinking about it, this was the base of this very project that got her agreeing to work at the Stark Tower a few years prior with a very euphoric Shuri who decided to move to New York over Cassie’s idea that the girl called a scientific, medical and human breakthrough in terms of treating people. Cass started with vibranium artificial skin and soon enough the two of them would be the most estimated and valuable duo as they not only extended Cassie’s project to fully functioning human organs, they also managed to turn vibranium into a somewhat bio composure that would not suffer the risk of getting infections or being rejected by the body which granted them a Nobel Prize in the science category and they earned a respected place at the Untied Nations Human Rights Council._

_They won the award two years before - before Thanos’ Blip -, but trust the young princess of Wakanda to still laugh her butt off whenever she heard people calling the duo by a ship name – whatever that would mean, not that Cassie was anywhere near interested – and describing their works as a ‘Shussie intervention to save the world’. Either way, they both did good. While Cassie would be up to genetics studies of bio and chemistry, Shuri was down the tech and engineering part of the projects, which meant that every single development they launched would not only be perfectly fit for humans organically speaking but would also have the topmost design and function that simply wrapped it all._

_“It’s not just a shiny enterprise, it’s also beneficial and very keen on environmental prevention. Because that’s Shussie for you – two hot, young geniuses with deep pockets-“_

_“Now you say that about yourself, princess.” She told the girl, because by then Cassie was nothing more than an employee._

_“-and good will to change the world.” Cassie remembered Shuri’s speech as clear as day even now, after they both performed a cardiac surgical procedure without holding a bloody scalpel – thanks to Wakanda’s technology – and created fully functional heart tissue based solely on Cass’ discoveries and Shuri’s untamed mind that could never sit still. “Together, we are the brains.” She announced to the whole audience that watched worldwide their performance pointing at both herself and her blonde partner. “And they are the pockets.” She finished with a lopsided grin gesturing towards her bemused brother, king T’Challa, a sighing Pepper Potts-Stark and her happily grinning husband, because surely the Iron Man had a thing for beating people covered in armor and throwing money around during the day._

_That was when the duo became responsible for the Stark’s lab and engineering in what could be called one of the most important marriages of all time, as they got together Wakanda’s technology and the new path in genetics that Cassie was paving for Tony Stark’s empire. So, gone were the weapons that got Howard Stark filthy rich, now they were up to rehabbing and taking care of the citizens._

_This specific change happened a year before the blip, when the blonde’s life was still great._

_You see, she and Shuri were really unstoppable together. They took both cultures all built upon war after war and decided to make something greater out of it. Something a little more human. Instead of building armors and fighting suits, they gave people the possibility to hope for a better tomorrow._

_And sometimes S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Rue Bennett came to elucidate the duo whenever they got too wrapped over technical terms, patents and what would be considered the very thin line every scientist dangled upon their whole lives: to what coast must the science thrive if some discoveries could and were often used with less than selfless purposes in mind?_

_You see, Cassie Howard knew Rue Bennett from a very long time when both of them were students at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Academy. They weren’t friends because Rue was younger than her and was always out and about her vast readings with headphones to drown every sound nearby. Also, the blonde was still anxious over people after she ran to the US with her younger sister, always in defensive for fear of having people after both of them._

_Come to think of it, that was the sole reason she choose S.H.I.E.L.D’s Academy to study, seeing that she could pick any normal university under the sun due her stellar grades. The idea that they would be at least safe from her creator’s goons and Hydra’s machinations was too good to be true. That was how she became Cassandra Ann Howard and her “sister” became Alexis Elizabeth Howard as well, seeing that back in London both girls were merely subjects, though she granted that the man who claimed to be their father really did hold a little care for them. Of course, in that warped and twisted way only a psychotic mind was really able to, but still._

_Oh, but still! Choosing S.H.I.E.L.D besides being the best solution to their “familiar predicament” was also the worst, seeing that Lexi was subjected to countless experiments over the years and became what would be called ‘an enhanced human’. And S.H.I.E.L.D was also known for keeping data on everyone who seemed to be out of ordinary in some way, so to hide her very clumsy and talkative sister from them in plain sight was seriously her most difficult work ever – and she became famous for rebuilding tissues and whole limbs down to perfection, full with sensorial neuro ends that covered from pain and pleasure to feels of warm and cold._

_It was really so amazing that one day she heard:_

_“I’m almost cutting my arms off so you can build me one of these beauties, Cass. There’s only so much an average human body can support.” It was Shuri, of course, as she whined about how her body was all spasming after almost twenty hours of sitting her highly bottom down a chair to perfect one of her pro-bono projects to show their community students down in Queens. Cassie ignored it because her partner had a way of talking nonsense after working for more than twelve hours uninterrupted. But then “What do you say if we create sex reassignment surgery prototypes? You know, we can top every single and worrisome, may I add, procedure they ever came with.” There was the girl looking at her with crazy and overexcited eyes. Oh boy! “This way the marginalized part of the gay community could have a shot of becoming who they truly are! With new top organic functional genitals." This was going to take so much of her time as the blonde was still up to recreating a human artery in a prosthetic. “Let’s give our queer people the best treatment ever, blondie!” Well, it seemed like her arteries’ art would take a rest for the upcoming future._

_“Shuri…” She sighed the girl’s name but deep down she knew that she was down to the lab for at least ten more hours as she already thought about an excuse to ask for her sister to take care of Henry for the rest of the night. Not that Lexi or Henry didn’t like each other’s company, they were kind of in love with one another anyway, but seeing that Lex had her finals just around the corner and the tiny girl was already working with Matthew Murdock and probably bouncing on coffee by the time, which was a very horrifying thought on its own, even when she completely ignored her sister's super strength…_

_Well, better to ask Henry to look after his aunt anyway._

_“Oh, but that sounds so dirty!” Out of nowhere Rue’s voice came through the lab as the tall girl smirked while eating a sandwich. She still wore her white coat and her much too big glasses that together gave off such a nerdy vibe that the blonde had no idea how the tall girl chose to and actually pulled off the training to become a field agent. Okay, she actually knew, because whenever Rue wasn’t strolling in their lab wearing her reading glasses and all that jazz, the curly-haired girl was almost often seen with a scowl adorning her features, as if she could get angry over just hearing a deep breath in her vicinity. “I’ll take one vibranium dick to go, ladies, please and thank you.” Cassie rolled her eyes and Shuri laughed out loud like a deranged person._

_“Oh, we are going to be the queer Santas, girls! Or is Santa Queers better? Anyway, off we go gifting the non-cis community with fully organic vibranium dicks and cunts all around the world!” It was Rue’s turn to choke on her food as she looked at the blonde’s face with truly terrified eyes over Shuri’s very maniac sounding laugh._

_Cassie sighed out loud then. Trust her to end a Friday night with both Shuri and Rue building vibranium dicks. But she kind of loved their company anyway._

_Oh, back to that very fateful day, exactly a year after this insanity, when Lexi knocked her door down to say that:_

_“I had sex with Rue.” It was the most terrified whisper her sister could manage, as if she was hiding a deep secret from the government and was afraid of having CIA and the FBI building a case against her for that. Or, as if said girl, the infamous Rue Bennett, was hiding in the blonde’s apartment to hear about it._

_“Should I shut my laptop down for that?” She asked because that was how they worked: sometimes Lex wanted her full attention, other times her sister just wanted to vent and open her heart as she broke her room’s decoration then turned her puppy-guilty eyes in a ‘sorry, I didn’t know this was so fragile’ message that had the blonde simply giving up on the turmoil of redecorating her bedroom over and over again. So, the only thing Lexi wasn’t allowed to snoop was Cassie’s laptop because she had to replace it twice and the whole ordeal wasn’t pleasurable when she lost all her blueprints._

_Anyway, her younger sister nodded, so that meant it was one the times Cassie would need to give the girl her full attention._

_Well, she was curious as well about how her sunny and talkative sister managed to get her apathetic crush in such, well, intimate position._

_Okay, not that Rue was indifferent to her young sister, because after three years of seeing the tall agent around S.H.I.E.L.D’s headquarters, Cassie only found out that the girl had all teeth when her sister went to pick her up blabbering excuse after excuse about her tardiness because she had car problems and had to push her deathtrap of a car all the way to the Academy in secrecy. Which, in Lex’s language, meant that she just shoved the car bare-handed across a whole city wearing a ridiculous looking hoodie._

_It happened five years before the night her sister decided to talk about having slept with Rue._

_“Hey, I had to buy it because, you know, I cannot be seen doing this super strong thing as you told me many times, so what should I really do, Cass?” Lexi explained after Cassie blinked in pure shock at her sister’s Iron Man horribly patterned hoodie. Surely Lex’s definition of doing things secretly were somehow at odds with the rest of the world, because the girl was wearing such a flashy coat that she might have even been picked by a satellite. “I just had the money to buy this one, okay?” The tiny girl said obliviously and Cassie heard a snort from a not that near table._

_Yes, the grumpy looking Rue Bennett had a full grin covering her face all the way down from her table as she stared in amusement at Cassie’s young sister. Her sister, in turn, turned what would be precisely called by the color spectrum as ‘magenta’. The blonde shook her head._

_“Did you buy it at a kid’s store, Lex?” Cassie called her sister’s attention back – because the girl had her eyes glued to her moody colleague’s now beaming face – and Lex’s complexion changed its color again as she shyly lowered her head. If it was due the girl smirking at her or because of her honestly curious question, the blonde would never know._

_“Maybe.” Lexi admitted in a whisper. Oh boy! “I mean, it was cheaper, because it’s, you know, a kids’ hoodie. But…” Then her sister stopped altogether and passed a hand across her hair shyly. Cassie’s eyes then fell to the edge of said ‘hoodie’ as she made a face. Because, you see, the hoodie looked like it had been cropped and her sister looked utterly ridiculous wearing it. “I mean, maybe Henry will like Iron Man, right? Once he’s born and all that. I mean, who doesn’t like Iron Man these days, huh? So, it was a safe choice. I picked the safer road, I guess. And anyway, I guess it could be one those ‘killing two birds with the same stone’ kind of thing? I get to cover myself and give him a gift ‘cause I’ll be the coolest aunt ever!”_

_Cassie then hugged her sister as tightly as she could and kissed both her cheeks with a big smile. Because, yes, she was pregnant and only had two more months to go before Henry would join their family. And there was her sister so very excited to be an aunt that the blonde simply shut her mouth and smiled because she had no heart to tell the girl who pushed a car all across the city to pick her up after she bought a very unpleasant looking hoodie that her son would only wear said monstrosity inside their house – and probably out of pity –, she also had no heart to tell her that said atrocious purchase did very little to cover even her arms and torso, therefore, no bird was actually killed by any stone._

_Lexi then laughed at her and held her back after moaning ‘Ugh, I’m actually hungry and I spent my last penny buying this’. Oh boy, this girl was priceless. Cassie was so happy she took her before running away. The blonde couldn’t imagine her life without her slightly strange sister. No matter what happened, they would always have each other._

_Because as soon as the blonde found out that she was pregnant and went mad over it because she had just turned 20 and received the biggest fucking opportunity to move to the Stark Tower as soon as she finished her second PhD, the first though crossing her mind was to have an abortion, seeing that of course the baby’s father was an useless man. But then there came Lexi to support her and tell her that no matter what, she was going to be there for both of them forever as her sister took so many internships to help her with the pregnancy that Cassie, in spite of being terrified that her baby would be used for studies like both she and Lexi were, decided to do better. To start again._

_To be the mother neither of them had. So, she kept it._

_“And your deadbeat car is still broken, huh?” She reminded her sister with a grin as if both of them wouldn’t need to walk all the way back to the apartment._

_“Bloody hell! I completely forgot about it, Cass!” Lex said with wide eyes as she probably tried to think of an alternative other than walking many miles with her pregnant sister back and leaving her beloved car there, all alone – Lexi’s words, not hers. Cassie, once again, had no heart to tell her sister that there wasn’t a single person in the whole world insane enough to actually waste their time with said unfulfilling theft seeing that the brunette’s car was so often broken that stealing it would be a waste of time._

_Then, as if it wasn’t strange enough to see an 18-year-old person wearing such a shameful piece of clothing after pushing a deadbeat car all over the city, powerwalking towards them came the one Rue Bennett clearing her throat and sporting a smirk to fully surprise Cassie even more._

_“Hi, nice to meet you, my name’s Rue.” The introduction was polite enough with a hand waiting for Lexi’s handshake and a lopsided grin. Poor Lex got as red as a tomato as she blinked at the taller girl and rushed to shake her hand as if she was afraid of being seen as unpolite._

_“Hi, Rue! I’m Lexi and this is my sister Cassie. Nice to meet you, too.” After hearing that, the tall girl’s smile blossomed to a big grin that had the blonde almost asking if the girl was high for it was not normal to see her smiling so much over nothing._

_Well, not exactly nothing, seeing that Rue seemed quite engrossed in anything about Lexi._

_“Yeah, sorry to interrupt, but I’ve heard you have car problems and stuff. I Just came to see if you want me to take a look at it or something.” At that Cassie had to control her facial expression from appearing downright bloody shocked into silence because since when did Rue offer her help to do anything ever?_

_Said shocking change of heart was unbeknown to Lexi, of course, so her ever innocent and utterly oblivious sister just grinned happily with a few chants of ‘I cannot thank you enough!’ and ‘you are a bloody hero, Rue!’ that were answered with a small smile and pink cheeks from said cranky hero._

_Rue actually did good by Lex’s sorry excuse for a vehicle in the end as Cassie heard their talking and gathered that the 16-year-old girl was down to engineering and robotics since she started her studies at the Academy when she was fourteen, but was now flirting with other subjects or even going to the field. The blonde, who believed that the very girl was mute until that odd day, said nothing in return because Lex was also so absorbed in whatever Rue said that her very chatty little sister gave up her endless rants in favor of amicably gesturing around whenever she was asked about something as she told Rue about her dreams and aspirations as a law student and the all too lanky brunette paid close attention between throwing looks at the car and at her sister – but mostly at the latter._

_Cassie didn’t want to pry into their conversation at all, but she knew Lexi, there was always the possibility of the girl to babbler nonstop and outing herself as super powerful to blow the blonde’s plan of staying hidden down to pieces. Thankfully she didn’t, but there was a very close call when she began to tell the taller girl about the sudden move to the new country because of familiar issues. The blonde returned to breath as Lexi skimmed over the ‘being a rat lab for their guardian’s deranged views of the world’ part and simply said that both she and her sister weren’t on speaking terms with their parents which prompted them to said giant change of scenario. If Rue thought anything about it being a little too over the top way of dealing with relatives of some sorts, the girl thankfully said nothing about it._

_And that was the first time Cassie had the misfortune of enduring the duo’s flirting back and forth in a very teen manner that would often leave both of them quite red in the cheeks whenever they stared at one another. It kept on happening whenever they saw each other after that. And oh boy! How they managed to cross each other’s paths after that; suddenly Lexi was very keen on picking her sister up, in spite of the blonde’s politely turning down the offer and then Rue became quite a regular at the sisters’ favorite coffee shop still working to school her features into showing surprise – something that would forever get a big happy grin from Lexi and an arched eyebrow from Cassie – as she stole the super brunette’s attention all to herself. ‘Cause Alexis always had an attention span since they were little, but whenever Rue appeared with a flirty smirk and a deep whispered ‘hey, British!’ that sounded outright preposterous to the referred girl’s older sister, the tiny hero’s dyslexia reached another level seeing that Lex would soon ignore whatever was happening around them to give the skinny girl her full attention._

_And on the other hand, Rue Bennett seemed to physically light whenever she got Lex’s all attentive eyes on whatever bizarre topic they were up to discussing. It was all truly ridiculous and very endearing to see both idiots pinning after one another like that. Something that happened over years to no end and probably would keep on happening seeing that not even the tanned girl’s dentist could’ve have seen her teeth so much through the years as Lexi did._

_That was why part of herself wasn’t that shocked as she heard the news about both of them getting drunk and sleeping together, but it was still surprising to hear that the two morons finally made a move about their obvious affections._

_Well, not to Lex who seemed so very disturbed over that as she proclaimed that maybe she took advantage of the younger girl because she should have known better because she was older but oh, Rue gave her such a sensual smile right before kissing her-_

_“With tongue, Cass! Jesus, and a what a tongue…” As Lexi blushed over the memory, Cassie choked on her mint tea and went into some serious coughing fits as the younger girl seemed not to give a damn if her sister lived or died after that because there she was sharing sordid detail after sordid detail about their very steamy night until they were interrupted by a very sleepy Henry ,‘cause her 4-year-old boy was snoopy as hell and couldn’t sit out his aunt’s never-ending tours of embarrassing herself._

_Cassie could never thank her son enough for saving her life that night, because seeing the boy’s green and attentive eyes followed by a genuine ‘utie Lex, you kay?’ was what spared the biochemical’s ears from hearing everything about Rue’s oh so very skillful tongue._

_Unfortunately, that night ended with both mother and son crying out loud sprawled on the floor after they both saw wide-eyed while Lexi turned to ashes after Thanos’ snap of fingers._

_Henry got so very distraught after that cruel, vile image of having his cool auntie turning to dust that Cassie’s son got silent a little after his tears dried. And appointment after appointment, the only adult Howard left heard the same thing “I’m sorry, but your son is autistic.” that had her so heartbroken with no one to turn to, seeing that her bright and happy work partner was also blipped, as they called it, that had her searching for a therapist for both herself and Henry._

_Rue actually heard the news about Lexi’s disappearance just a month later – it was when the girl had the courage to ask her in a very small voice where was her sister because ‘I haven’t seen her around anymore’ that got Cassie breaking down again to sob on the taller girl’s shoulders the loss of her uplifting and very innocent sister. And the girl who, up to that very moment, was so very terrified of having messed thing up with Lexi after their steamy night of sex, suffered such a heartbreaking change after it that Cassie never got to see her smile again._

_That was the push Rue needed to get even more alone and soon enough she assigned herself for field training as she completely closed that part of her life off._

_Okay, not completely, both girls would schedule a meeting at least once in every three months to mourn together, drink themselves silly and watch Henry breaking down whenever they took him to the memorial – and there was no way of leaving her son behind, he had a crappy personality as that – because nobody suffered over Lexi’s death as much as her boy._

_And that was what got both of them to become somewhat friends. Because before that they were already teammates. Or whatever, seeing that two girls usually saw one another and joked around the lab with Shuri because the special agent was secretly a bloody nerd and loved to mess with both scientists. Rue would often visit them to share whatever robotics she was working with and take advice from both in how to upgrade the models. Strangely enough, most of Rue’s projects were related to vehicles and the princess of Wakanda wouldn’t miss a beat before saying that “Oh my God! Lexi will love to have this on her car!” that all but left Rue muttering a shy ‘oh shut up!’ and very pink in embarrassment as Cassie rolled her eyes._

_As if they didn’t know that Rue was in love with Lexi anyway. But seeing that the only insane person they knew who drove a car in New York’s crazy traffic was her sister, it was definitely easy to gather that whatever Rue built was to upgrade the tiny brunette’s deathtrap._

_Either way, after Thanos, Cassie and Rue’s silly banters turned dark and the duo would often hung around to drink as they tried to better understand whatever happened and why Lexi – and the cats, because Henry would never forget his favorite friends in the whole world; his only friends, actually – had to be taken away from them._

_Sometimes they brainstormed about a solution for that predicament, how to bring everyone back. They got around the idea of travelling back in time, but seeing that their tech genius was gone and so was each and every access to her blueprints, they reached a dead-end. Because Rue’s projects were often focused on weapons and gears and mobility – and Lexi’s car, of course – she knew shit about quantum science and technology, just like Cassie, so, for that theory to become practical, they would need Shuri. And they lost the princess, too._

_Soon enough they got to sharing snippets of both their lives with one another instead. A now muscular and much more serious Rue would often talk about her field missions with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s team, precisely whenever they went wrong, which happened quite too often, as a mean to lift their spirits – cause the tanned girl too had big losses of her mom and sister – and Cassie would do the same with her lab projects down the Stark tower because she could never find another partner so fully in sync with her habits and way of working as one princess of Wakanda._

_Rue then stopped coming to visit both her and Henry, because Cassie would often take her son to the lab as the tall agent was assigned to many field missions. But still they went on with their lives and soon enough they kind of fell away from each other when Rue became a total reclusive after a special mission gone so wrongly that had the girl asking for a time away from S.H.I.E.L.D. altogether. Which had the blonde going nuts over losing another friend, but whenever she offered her medical and bio expertise to help the grumpy girl, she would be turned down. Until she dropped the subject altogether and left Rue to be. Then came the time when Cassie would get a new work partner at the beginning of every week because she couldn’t possibly deal with so dimwitted and brainless people as she delved so deep in thoughts of quantum science to bring everyone back that the blonde became a snappy bitch much to Pepper’s distress, seeing that the slim blonde was the one responsible for the hiring and firing of said senseless scientists._

_Either way, never once had the CEO of the Stark Industries made any type of remark about it all. No, Pepper would simply keep on going as she brought Morgan along to keep a now 8-year-old Henry occupied watching the toddler because that was one of the few things that had Cassie’s son making any type of sounds ever again, even if it was just to giggle or to make silly noises to amuse the two years old girl who was deeply enchanted by her playmate’s soothing presence._

_Said firing and hiring loop went on through quite some time as both kids got closer and Cassie teared her brain apart with thinking about time machines and time travelling to restore the reality back to normal because she would be dead before she gave up on trying to find a way to bring her sister back, even when every single avenger left came to accept it, much to her ultimate horror and dismay. So, soon enough, the earth mightiest heroes were very high on her shit list for being weak cowards and giving up on everyone._

_Well, said hate went on up until a very important day, one year later._

_Of course, she was back at her lab – because the Stark’s labs belonged to her anyway – when there was a silly commotion all through the tower that had the biochemical sharing stares with her son as this was their way of communicating through the last five odd years. She sighed, weren’t scientists supposed to be cool and collected? Why was everyone running inside her lab shouting senseless things and dragging her away from her projects to see whatever stupidity the bloody Avengers had done now?_

_Henry followed short after her as both went all the way up to the top floor to have a better view and to ignore those loud jerks because there were some yells and tears coming from people she never seen around or didn’t mind enough to introduce herself to and the blonde all but rolled her eyes. Seemed like some pointless big heroic act was pulled by those bloody moronic heroes, huh? That went on until the very moment she heard a:_

_“Cass? Is that you?” It couldn’t be, right? It couldn’t be that those idiots actually did something right and restored the other half of the living they pretended to never exist._

_“Auntie Lex!” But whereas Cassie was downright terrified over losing her mind for good, her son suddenly yelled with a rough voice that she was prevented from hearing over the last five years and the blonde, still with her back turned, fell to the floor from emotions she didn’t dare to name after such events. “I missed you so much. And you brought Shake and Bo with you!” Henry kept on shouting in a rapid fired making his mom turn around, still kneeling on the ground, after she heard his heavy footsteps running towards someone._

_And yes, there was her sister looking scandalized as ever glued to a wall – this was a new development in her powers because Lexi never had the ability to stick to surfaces and Cassie would actually know about it, seeing that her younger sister would probably use it to her benefit whenever she was pacing around the room – holding both their also frightened cats, still in her pajamas and with a hair so messed up it looked utterly ridiculous. And oh, how utterly Lexi’s._

_“Henry, is that really you?” The brunette asked but heard no answer ‘cause soon enough her beloved kid was throwing himself into her arms – which was a worrying sight for any mom, but Cassie was very used to her boy’s antics – making his favorite adult drop both cats and hug the boy instead. Bovary and Shakespeare were so used to being held and dropped by the time that both cats did nothing but yawned after that. “Jesus, kid! You’re taller than me! What’s that?” But it didn’t matter because soon enough Henry had his lanky legs wrapped around Lexi’s torso as both talked to each other through grins and whispered voices._

_That went on for more than forty minutes to be precise – Cassie was one for accuracy, much unlike her younger sister, who was a bloody anxious drama queen – until her now very talkative son let his personal hero go with tears in his eyes and Lex gave the blonde one of her lopsided grins as she scratched her neck in one of her shy habits accompanied by red tearful eyes and a pink face. Cassie rolled her just as teary eyes at her sister in return._

_“Took you long enough, you idiot.” That was all she said before she jumped into her sister’s arms just like Henry did before and both of them cried together because they were stupid and sentimental. Soon enough Henry climbed Lexi’s other arm and they shared a family hug, both mother and son being held by Lexi._

_“Sorry, I-“_

_“My, my, my! I go away for a few minutes and I’m already replaced by a superhero, blondie?! I’m hurt!” Of course, that was Shuri and the blonde jumped away from her sister in fear of having outed Lexi’s powers to look at a very battered looking princess of Wakanda. “I doubt that she can make vibranium dicks.” Cassie rolled her eyes yet again but grinned at that lunacy as she all but ran towards the girl who appeared to be just as young as ever._

_“Why would I want to make a vibranium dick?” Lexi muttered to a giggling Henry but it didn’t matter because soon enough Cassie was hugging her dark-skinned work partner with all her might as she pulled a very idiotic act – that soon after she would blame her sister’s very dumbass presence for – and kissed the princess’ lips. “Oh well, that’s new.”_

_“Ew!” That probably came from Henry._

_“Meow?”_

_Cassie heard very rhythmic sounding voices coming from her family – and cats! – but as she opened her eyes to rant an excuse for that bloody stupid thing of kissing her best friend and only worth work partner in the whole world, all she found was a big grin followed by a “Took you long enough, Cass.” That got the blonde thinking about rolling her eyes to the princess again but then Shuri was kissing her and she decided against it._

_Better to kiss the girl who just came back from the dead, huh?_

_“You come with me, kid, ‘cause your bloody mom is a very shameless woman and you are too young to be exposed to such vulgarities and disturbing behavior so soon-“_

_“Auntie Lex, it’s just a kiss.”_

_“Hey, Cass, I came to-“ That breathless voice made the blonde and the princess jump apart with shy faces because Cassie, of course, ignored Lexi’s very dramatic babble in favor of kissing Shuri. It also made her bloody sister shut her mouth because, well, it was Rue. “Now, now, that’s what I call a real development around here.” The very fit and toned – and very sweaty, did Rue run all the way to the tower? – girl said with a bloody smirk looking at both scientists, but the two had very different ways of dealing with the girl’s sharp sense of humor. ‘Cause Cassie pulled an all-too-Lexi habit of opening and closing her mouth without making sounds and Shuri was… Well, she was Shuri._

_“What can I say? Nothing can bring two girls together as vibranium dicks, huh?” Cassie facepalmed after such idiocy said by a grinning Shuri and Rue giggled for the very first time in years at something that wasn’t caused by Lexi. Okay that her sister was just right there, but still. It took the agent some time before she actually noticed the brunette who still held Henry in her arms._

_“That’s a very disturbing thing to say.” Lexi muttered and soon enough Cassie turned to see that reunion. She was not disappointed, because as soon as Rue Bennett saw a quite embarrassed Lexi – why was the girl acting so shy over the mention of a dick was way beyond her, but that was her sister anyway – it felt as if the whole world stopped as they were engulfed by a heated feeling as sounds fell silent and soon enough Cass and Shuri were sharing a knowing glance because there was some sort of non-human thing going around as both scientists began to feel their bodies getting hotter and the air around them got heavy, as if they just were suddenly on the top of the Everest._

_“Someone’s projecting emotions in the room. Guess we have an empath now.” The princess whispered wisely and Cassie nodded her head and whispered a ‘it’s Rue’ back to her lab partner. “How do you know? It still can be Lex, she’s not completely human, is she?” Shuri asked truly curious and the blonde sighed. Too much for keeping her sister’s powers in the dark, huh?_

_Better to come clean right away, so that was exactly what the blonde did._

_“She isn’t, but even though she has unlimited powers as I have no idea how strong she actually is or what she can possibly do, there’s no way that’s Lexi, because the girl would have got me insane over the years if she was able to project her emotions so strongly.” Cassie answered in a low voice because she really didn’t want to out her sister to Rue. As much as she liked and had some sort of friendship going with her sister’s old crush, Rue still worked for S.H.I.E.L.D and Cassie couldn’t still bring herself to trust them. Not after everything that happened to non-humans after the Sokovia accords to regulate every individual with super powers and ended up in a clash between Captain America and Tony Stark, that all but derailed her work because the billionaire would often go to her lab to bitch about Steve Rogers._

_Shuri nodded because she too knew how much of an emotional mess her younger sister was. The whole world would have probably been committed to mental facilities if that was the case._

_Thankfully though, it seemed as if super hearing wasn’t one of Rue’s powers because there was no change in her projections of feels and the top floor was still getting warmer by each passing second and both scientists got a fuzzy feeling much like butterflies inside their bellies. Or the Inhuman – or was she a mutant? – simply made deaf years to both lab nerds, as she called the duo, in order to simply stare at Lexi in something akin to wonderment._

_“I see…” Shuri muttered and turned to face her with a serious face as she too tried to ignore the long-lost lovers’ reunion and what it was causing them. It was mix of longing and sadness wrapped with joy and some sexual tension that made their quest very hard. Who knew Rue had such deep feelings for Lexi? Yes, Cassie was well-aware of the wishful gazes and shy smiles, but this was getting way too overwhelming. “You don’t want her to know about your sister, I gathered. But why?” Cassie sighed and started her explanation about it all as she skimmed over the part of being deadly scared of having their creator after the two of them as soon as S.H.I.E.L.D got the news. Because for a very hidden and secret organization, they were incapable of keeping their data safe enough seeing that their files were often leaked all over the globe and she couldn’t have that happening._

_Soon enough the projection was over, leaving both lab partners – what kind of partners were they now? – to turn towards them._

_Rue’s projection was stopped as soon as Henry jumped into her arms – Cassie would need to have a talk with her son because this jumping and hugging people was very preoccupying – with a loud ‘Rue!’ that scared the girl so much over hearing his voice that they had the top floor back to its normalcy. Well, as normal as a placed favored by Tony Stark could actually feel. The empath then looked at the blonde’s face with wide eyes and Cassie only nodded her head because yeah, Henry was back to talking and it was a miracle!_

_She got that feeling too because it was no secret that she had a liking to the boy and then Rue was hugging the kid with tearful eyes._

_Rue’s projection of feelings was very tamed down after that, leaving the partners only to feel a warm type of happiness engulfing them. The blonde smiled at that, there was Henry saving her life once again from getting insane over sensing Rue’s feelings for Lexi._

_“Do you think she know she’s projecting, Cass?” Shuri asked and Cassie turned to face her with a shook of head in negative. It was unlikely of Rue to get comfortable with sharing anything ever. “Do you think Lexi is getting affected?” The princess wondered looking at a bloody pink Lexi that stood near the glass doors, as if her sister was deciding between dashing away from them and jumping from the top floor or just wishing herself into nothingness to hide from that._

_“It’s very hard to tell, Shuri. Lex is always that weird whenever Rue’s around.” Cass answered simply. Because it was that simple._

_Then Henry jumped from Rue’s hug like an acrobat with a parting kiss to her cheek to shower their cats with his love. Bo and Shake, all used to the boy’s personality, just laid there in the waiting to receive kisses and hugs as they heard just how much he missed them and started a longwinded summary of what happened to him over the long and dreadful years they were apart._

_Cassie was truly worried that her son would pass out from talking so much and so fast, but after years without hearing a word from him, she couldn’t bring herself to scold the boy for gossiping with their cats._

_Of course, her peace of mind was all short-lived because then Rue whispered her ‘hey, British!’ with an even deeper voice now, after five years, that had Shuri and Cassie sighing in union like love-sick teenagers watching a romantic movie reaching its climax. Bloody Rue!_

_But there was Lexi jogging towards the tall empath and hugging her tightly with a ‘hello, agent!’ right before she was scooped up into Rue’s arms that had her tiny sister lacing her legs around the girl’s waist as both breathed each other in, like the universe was now back to making sense._

_The scientists were back to sighing again and Shuri had half a mind to scowl at their actions with a “Is it bad that part of me doesn’t want them to escalate this?” and Cassie actually giggled because bloody Rue Bennett was back to fucking projecting again._

_“It’s only normal, princess.” She said with gritted teeth because she was going to murder Rue Bennett if the girl started to project her sexual desires towards Lexi in the very same room she was with Shuri who she just kissed in an impulse and happened to be informed by her brain over said senseless deed that she nourished some sort of romantic feelings for the princess of Wakanda._

_“And another part of me wants them to get together because I just discovered that I’m nothing more than a fangirl deep inside.” At that the blonde laughed out loud alongside with Shuri because yeah, she too was torn over the very same stupidity, it seemed._

_But the star-crossed lovers’ reunion along with their very creepy act of sniffing each other in like drug addicts was soon shattered to pieces after they were informed through the building’s speakers that Pepper Potts-Stark was calling an immediate meeting over the death of Iron Man._

_What the bloody hell?_

_She looked at Shuri with wide wild eyes and the princess nodded her head in confirmation – yes, Tony Stark sacrificed himself to kill Thanos. And soon enough another commotion happened all over the tower over such sad news._

_That got Cassie very sad because she liked the eccentric man: he had a sharp mind and a sharper tongue, but also a big heart. It was a true fucking loss that got the whole room staring at one another. Even Henry loved the man, just as Lexi predicted – her son was very loving after all – and didn’t bring himself to fight the tears over the Iron Man’s death as he ran towards her and both hugged and cried kneeling on the floor. Something that she came to despise even after so many years, that brought her right back at the memories of a disappearing Lexi whose parting words was ‘I’m sorry and I love you two so very mu-‘ that her sister couldn’t even bring herself to finish before she disappeared into dust._

_And just like that, the five of them marched towards the meeting board room holding each other’s hands. Or Cassie held Shuri and Henry’s hands in hers and Lexi and Rue held hands too, seeing that both her sister and son had an armful of cat to bring along. Because Bo’s sleep was rudely interrupted by Lexi, who took the grumpy cat in her arms with rolling eyes after she heard a deep meow of displeasure, as if the cat was utterly offended for facing the indignity of being held and dragged around like a normal pet. And Henry held a still asleep Shake because that cat was lazy as fuck and didn’t give a damn about being dragged around live a stuffed toy. In fact, that lethargic little shit would even favor being held and dragged around as long as he didn’t need to move his paws._

_Cassie didn’t miss the look of pure wonderment in Rue’s face as she stared at a very crossed Lexi who spent the whole walk down the conference room berating Bovary for such spoiled behavior, to which the all too big and moody black cat responded with a vast array of mortified meows back. The scientists rolled their eyes and Henry started to explain to Rue that Bo was simply a rotten bitch and could never lose an argument, she always had to have the last word – or meow. Of course, he didn’t use such vocabulary, but still. And Rue, in turn, looked at both Cassie’s kid and sister with loving eyes full of amusement by their insane personalities._

_Because yeah, she had a weird family that all but began with a very chatty and innocent enhanced superkid back in London. And soon enough, they were sisters and couldn’t live without the other. So, in a way, as much as Cassie saved Lexi back in the day, the tiny girl did the same, because surely there was no way she could live without her now sister._

_That was how they were faced by more than four hundred employees down their conference room as Cassie’s proper working attire clashed harshly against her companions, ‘cause everyone apart from Henry, who looked like a proper young gentleman, sported different attires that had only one thing in common: none of them should be facing a meeting with said less than wise choice of wardrobe. So, there stood Cassie beside a half-geared and battered looking Shuri, but the girl was a princess and a genius and a fighter, she could do whatever the hell she wanted to and look like she damn well pleased. Then there was Rue who was fully clothed in black gym’s clothes and yoga pants full with running shoes, as always, she was dressed in black to match her character, but still, the girl’s body attracted some stares because she looked kind of good, like a taller version or Melinda May, scowl and all. But all eyes focused on a barefoot Lex, who wore her baby blue pajama pants with a Pikachu patterned shirt that no one older than five years should be allowed to dress such atrocity, much less going to a formal and sad reunion wearing it. And to complete Lexi’s bizarre entrance, her sister was still arguing with a glaring Bo and holding Rue’s hand in hers._

_Lexi’s whole minion inspired outfit along with her holding and berating of a murderously looking black cat was so damn surreal that managed to bring a small smile out from a miserable Pepper upon seeing such bizarre scene, which made her whole speech die in her lips for a moment._

_Cassie shyly adverted her eyes to the floor in shame as her two other dark-skinned companions chuckled from seeing both her sister and son trying to explain to their cat why Bovary couldn’t simply slap people’s hands with fury just because she woke up all grumpy whereas Cassie chanted ‘sorry’ as soon as they passed everyone to excuse both the cat’s behavior and the humans she had tagging alongside her._

_Either way, the whole speech about the Stark Industries owner’s death went somewhat okay, with a sour taste and sad faces that got somehow sadder as the recently widowed blonde announced that no burial ceremony was to be held in his name seeing that they would cremate his body in a small familiar gathering to give herself and Morgan some privacy._

This all happened two years ago, but Cassie still got chills over that.

And still up to this very day, Cassie didn’t know how to deal with the two lovesick puppies currently making heart-eyes to each other. And also, sad eyes. Lexi was all about looking at Rue as if she was seeing her through a glass, never quite approaching her these days, but still longingly desiring to.

It was simply a miserable freak show.

But things changed so much over the years, of course. For one, the age difference between herself and Shuri got bigger – Cassie was now thirty and the princess was twenty-three – and Rue was actually older than Lexi now, ‘cause her sister was twenty-five and the agent or detective or whatever was twenty-seven seeing that the _Blip_ messed with everything.

Also, there was the fact that her sister was now up to fighting people at night all masked and wearing a spandex black suit that Shuri designed completed with a full-face mask and a hoodie. It was still vibranium-free, but at least it protected her sister a little more than normal clothes against knives (not bullets though, which was concerning) because Lexi seriously had something against wearing the material. However, her sister would only say that ‘I have a bad feeling about wearing it, Cass. I don’t know why…’ that always left the blonde thinking if whatever was done to Lexi was vibranium induced. But, either way, it had both scientists dropping the topic.

And Rue… Well, Rue was engaged to a preppy blonde girl called Julie or something. So, that turned their already awkward relationship towards this shit show they were now displaying.

Because as soon as Lexi heard about Rue’s relationship update – and trust the tall girl to only confirm said detail after six months of endlessly flirting and coffee dates ‘to catch up with her long-lost friend’, which was a very dick move of hers. ‘Cause, you see, Rue didn’t even say shit about it, Lexi just ran into both of them and was informed by Rue’s blonde fiancé about it. So, to say that Cassie’s already awkward enough sister got even more strange was an understatement. This was positively one of the few topics that Lexi didn’t share with her sister.

Okay, after she found out about it, Lex got out of her way to hide from Rue. She would run away from the girl as much as she could and, you see, Lex could actually run faster than normal. Not like speed of sound fast, but still faster than any average human.

It probably explained her surprised after Rue invited her for drinks. She, of course, turned it down. And Cassie took the time to see the detective taking a very deep breath after it. And Lexi was never one to let people down, so there she went explaining:

“You know that housing lawsuit we are running against the New York State for trying to ignore their responsibilities with everyone who lived near the place where the final battle went down and therefore are now found homeless?” Lexi said still a little more composed now, which was a plus.

“Yeah, I remember. It’s a big case and you’re conducting, right?” Rue asked and Lexi straightened her black suit because thankfully, after they won Peter’s case, Lex got to dress a little more sober whenever she worked. It probably helped that now she had a table to sit instead of working on the floor. So, in contrast to their all white coats, Lexi was down to dressing a tailored suit complete with black trousers and a white button-down shirt, full with black leather oxford shoes.

Yes, Rue prompted Lexi towards that ‘back to black’ phase.

Because after engaged-Rue, Lexi turned a little more somber as well. She got a lot more serious too although she was still her talkative self, but she did it a little less whenever the other girl was around. It got Cassie sad someway, she truly missed her sister’s uplifting personality so much. But granted, they went through big changes so she couldn’t demand from Lex to still be the same person.

“Well, I’m working with Matthew, but yes, it’s a big one. Like supreme court big now.” Lexi said with a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as Rue was staring at her face in wonder.

Cassie really hoped that at least Rue liked her fiancé as much as she liked the blonde’s sister. It would truly be heartbreaking for the everyone around if the detective didn’t hold so deep feelings for her soon-to-be wife and threw away her chance with Lexi for whatever reason that got her engaged to someone who wasn’t the brunette.

Not that said fiancé was a bad person, granted that Cassie never got to know the girl that well, but she seemed good enough and very perky because, of course, Rue Bennett had a thing for that.

“Wow! That’s amazing, Lexi! Congratulations!” Rue said with one of her big Lexi-grins and the other girl smiled a little at that.

“I-yes, well, thank you, Rue. I mean, we need to set an example out of this, you know? Our citizens cannot be hold accountable for something so out of reality as that. It’s not fair.” Then of course, Lexi’s phone started to ring and her sister took a deep breath.

Cassie already knew who it was – Matthew Murdock, of bloody course!

“Yeah, it truly isn’t…” Rue whispered back with a low voice as she shoved her hands inside her pockets in what could be seen as a shy stance.

“So, we’ll face the supreme court tomorrow, therefore it wouldn’t be advisable to drink tonight.” Lexi was still glaring at her phone and Rue was getting so anxious that Cassie decided to stop writing notes down before she messed with anything over the empath’s ability to project whatever she felt whenever Lexi was around.

Then Shuri came yelling a ‘drink’s on Cass tonight’ that did nothing to soothe the sudden anxious energy engulfing the room. It was enough that the princess sighed to herself after taking a sit beside the blonde.

“That bad, huh?” She answered her work and whatever more partner with a nod of head because these two were destroying her peace of mind.

“Oh, sure. You’re totally right. Raincheck?” There was hope in Rue’s tone and both Shuri and Cassie found themselves cringing at that. Because Lexi was trying to keep herself away from having her heart broken over the girl, but strangely enough, Rue was kind of trying there. Which was surprising, because after she blew things to hell hiding her very chirpy fiancé, the detective all but let Lexi go and never made any attempt at, you know, getting closer to the tiny superhero again. Up until a few months ago. And Cassie had no idea as to why was that.

Either way, that was probably why her sister’s answer all but broke the girl’s heart.

“Sorry, I have to go.” Or maybe it was Lexi’s rushed departure as if something big had happened – which was very possible – or as if she couldn’t stand another minute in the same room as Rue.

Still, no one missed the way that Lexi simply ignored the detective’s hopeful question of maybe getting out some other time. Also no one missed the way that Rue’s face fell after she never heard an answer as the lab got so damn cold that it felt like they were suddenly inside a freezer.

With both scientists shivering from the cold, it was Shuri who decided to move their drinking night to the sisters’ penthouse in an insane attempt to make the detective a little less gloomy. The owner of the apartment just glared at her face.

“I don’t wanna freeze my ass off over these two, Cass.” Shuri simply whispered after Rue nodded and thankfully went away to get changed, probably giving off those freezing vibes down the whole tower like some sort of African-American Elsa. “Besides, there will be Henry to lift her spirits as well. And you’ll be able to drink, blondie. Because whatever Murdock said to your sister, it probably was very important, so I guess she won’t be back home anytime soon.” Cassie opened her mouth to protest but decided against it. Instead she prophesied:

“We are going to have a bloody long night, aren’t we?” She sighed and Shuri squeezed her hand in comfort.

“Since when we don’t?” The young princess said with one of her smirks and gave her a light kiss on the lips before getting up and about the hell they were going to face. “Chop-chop, blondie! I’m still too sober for such a grumpy Rue and as much as I adore your frowns, save them for the rest of the night. Something is telling me that you’ll be doing that a little too much overnight.” Shuri was very reassuring, wasn’t she?

However, Cassie did what she was told – she was a pushover after all – and changed her clothes to face whatever they were going to endure seeing that Rue would probably spend her night all cranky and quiet and as for her sister… Well, the blonde only hoped that whatever crime that emo idiot decided to prevent wouldn’t leave her almost dead.

But since when were her prayers ever answered?

**Author's Note:**

> hey, folks!  
> apparently I'm a nerd with too much free time to write. still, this fic will deal with the events after Endgame and forth from there. guess this one's even more insane than the other work, so well.  
> the mistakes are mine, as always.  
> so, whatever you think about this utter crap, if it's too messy or if it should be dropped altogether, feel free to criticize. I would really love to read the opinions on this one because it may become a series - if you're up to reading - I don't know.
> 
> have a good one, guys! xx


End file.
